A meeting is being held at the Bayplex on Sunday, organized by Bill Davies of Glace Bay, who is hoping to see a swimming pool built here. Davies said although it could take some time to see this become a reality, he hopes a committee can be formed Sunday to begin working on the issue.

"Talk of a community pool for Glace Bay has been going on for at least 15 years, but nothing has come of it yet," said Bill Davies. "This would be great for exercise to the young and older people in the area."

Davies said the first step is organizing a committee and a feasibility study.

"To see this happen will take funding from all three levels of government, federal, provincial and municipal."

He said the Bayplex is the ideal place for a swimming pool, with a geothermal system in place which could be used to heat the water.

The geothermal system, in its third year in use at the Bayplex, uses three wells on the property which are connected to underground mine water, to fuel the energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling system.

Davies said after scheduling this meeting he discovered another committee has been in place working on this issue for a couple years.

He has contacted the members to invite them to the meeting to share information on where the issue stands at the moment.

Davies is also inviting officials with all three levels of government. Paul Nardocchio of Waterside Pools will be on hand to talk about costs and upkeep.

Davies is well-known for his advocating for and playing a part in getting a new rail on the Renwick rail bridge and a bus shelter for Marconi Street.

Dist. 9 Coun. George MacDonald said he will be attending the meeting. MacDonald said there was serious discussion on a pool when Enterprise cape Breton Corporation was working on the thermal energy program for the Bayplex about three years ago.

"There was land available by the Bayplex and it was felt it would be an ideal time to discuss a pool. However, the costs of the thermal energy project were just too big at that time so the project was put by the wayside."

MacDonald said he knows the other committee in place had put a lot of work already into researching the possibility of a pool for the area. He said this might be the time to look back into it.

"The thermal energy project is a success and there is excess energy there no one is using. It might be a prime time for a committee to get together and start fresh."

However, as far as funding, MacDonald said it's tough times for the Cape Breton regional Municipality right now.

"I'll be honest, we are just going into budget talks and we'll be lucky if we fill some of these potholes."

"We will certainly work alongside the organizational committee to look at different options."

Bayplex manager Clarence Routledge said the thermal energy would make a big difference in costs associated with maintaining a pool.

"It would make a difference with the feasibility of running a pool, (because) your biggest costs are with heating the water."

Routledge said the pool is something the people here have wanted for many years. Before the Bayplex was first built 20 years ago, a survey was conducted to see what residents wanted.

"The first thing the people wanted was a pool, the second was a rink and the third thing, the walking track."

Many years prior to this, a number of groups in town were going to build a pool on Reserve Street.

"They cleared the land and everything. Then that fell apart."

Dave MacKeigan, a member of a committee that has been working on the idea of a pool for the community over the past two years, said due to the health issues of a committee member, things were on the backburner for a bit.

However he said the committee did meet with Larry Maxwell, the provincial representative for health and wellness, in Sydney.

"The problem we found was there is no money. The CBRM has no money, the province told us they don't have any money and it was at the tail end of all the federal money being dished out, so that wasn't available."

MacKeigan said the committee is still together and still wants to see this happen some day and will try to be at the meeting, However he said hearing the Savoy needs more than $600,000 for repairs, he’d like to see the public step up and help with this project first.

"I think people of Glace Bay and surrounding areas should be rallying together to help raise money to help fix the Savoy."

A meeting is being held at the Bayplex on Sunday, organized by Bill Davies of Glace Bay, who is hoping to see a swimming pool built here. Davies said although it could take some time to see this become a reality, he hopes a committee can be formed Sunday to begin working on the issue.

Just because there is a "prefered" insurance contractor working on it doesn't mean that there is insurance. They take jobs that aren't covered by insurance as well.

stagefright

January 14, 2014 - 17:02

@WHY-Maybe so, there are also lots of contractors in the area quite qualified to do the work also,so why this particular contractor??Did any of them bid on this job or was it just GIVEN to this "prefered" contractor??

stagefright

January 14, 2014 - 19:48

They want the public to step up to help with the 600,000 in repairs for the savoy.The savoy hires a "prefered" insurance contractor to do work . Why is this not being bid on so the savoy can get the most out of what money they have, witch they won't be getting from this "prefered" contractor i can assure you that.Something doesn't smell rite!!

caperguy

January 14, 2014 - 04:58

pool,, good idea,,, savoy a private business, and like any private business or home they should have had insurance,its a dinosour and its time it was put out of its misery,,all ways looking for money ,,

Pool in Glace Bay is an excellent idea and long overdue. I can see why funding would be an issue. I'd suggest building a Marina with a pool !!!! Seems to be lots of tax dollars going to Marina's in CB!!! Why not one with a pool!!! Seriously though..... Pool in Glace bay would be a good use of tax dollars. Best of luck

Savoy makes enough money on its own and not many family and kids make use of the Savoy as they would a summer pool. The Savoy is privately owned and should have insurance... The pool is a great idea, start putting more into our community other than an old building...

I think a pool in a fantastic idea! I agree with the previous comments regarding the Savoy. They should have insurance on the building which would cover water damage. I am sure the Savoy theatre is making revenue! To expect the community to pay for repairs is ridiculous.